Braised ox cheek wellington with peppercorn gravy

Ingredients

1 trimmed ox cheek approx. 350g 1 tbsp plain flour

1 tsp mustard powder

1 tbsp rapeseed or veg oil

1 small red onion, chopped

3 thyme sprigs

1 beef stock cube

2 tbsp dried porcini mushrooms Knob of butter

1 crushed garlic clove

100g chopped chestnut mushrooms 4 slices prosciutto

1 pack of rolled puff pastry

1 beaten egg

100ml double cream

1 tsp crushed black peppercorns

Method

Preheat the oven to 140°c. Use a suitable oven proof casserole dish (with a lid) to heat the oil on the hob. Cut the ox cheek into four, dust the pieces in the plain flour mixed with the mustard powder. Shake off the excess flour, and then brown in the hot oil.

When the meat is browned, add the onion to the pan, cook until slightly caramelised. Add the thyme, stock cube and porcini, pour 450ml of water into the pan and season well. Stir to combine all ingredients, cover with lid and place in the oven for 3hrs. Check after a couple of hours, stir if required, add some more water if beginning to dry.

When the cooking time is up, remove the ox cheek from the pan, use two forks to shred the meat on a plate, remove any large pieces of fat or sinew. Strain the cooking liquid into a clean saucepan and place to one side.

In a separate pan melt the butter, add the garlic and sizzle for 1 min. Add mushrooms and stir. Cook for 10 mins until pan is dry, season well.

In a bowl, add the shredded meat, mushrooms and a couple of tablespoons of the cooking liquid, then mix well. Chill for at least 3hours. I find that if you can leave this to chill in the fridge for 24-48hrs the flavour increases.

When ready to assemble, roll the pastry out onto a board. I like to use two circular cutters for the base of the wellingtons. Then use a larger circular cutter for the top. This is not rocket science, you are just looking to make a sealed parcel, so be creative.

On the base of each wellington use two slices of the prosciutto to form a cross, split the chilled meat mixture in two, place one half in the centre of the cross, fold the prosciutto up over the meat to encase it so that you seal the mixture in.

Brush the edges of the base of the wellington with the beaten egg. Place the lid of the wellington over the meat parcel, using your hands to seal the mixture in the pastry and use a fork or fingers to crimp the edges. Again, you can get creative with your decoration of the parcel, I like to just gently score a criss-cross pattern. Brush all over with the beaten egg. Make sure to use a sharp knife to pierce a steam hole in the top of each parcel.

Chill the parcels for 30mins – 24hrs. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 180°c. Place the wellingtons on a lined baking sheet. Pop in the oven for 30mins until golden brown.

Whilst the wellingtons are cooking, warm up the cooking liquid, add the cream and peppercorns. Keep warm until ready to serve. Make sure you check the seasoning of the gravy, and adjust accordingly. Serve each wellington with a jug of peppercorn gravy and some seasonal veg.

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